U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,458 discloses a method for making 9,9-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-fluorene, which is useful in making various types of fluorene-containing compounds. The fluorene-containing compounds are widely used in the fields of pharmaceuticals as disclosed in WO2012145330A1, optics as disclosed in US 2013/0266763 A1, flame-retardant research as disclosed in US20140179836 A1, etc. Many of such fluorene-containing compounds are prepared from 9,9-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-fluorene or its derivatives, and thus, they normally have two phenyl groups each having a substituted group.
Biphenyl-phenyl-4′-yl-phenyl-methanol is disclosed in F. Ullmann and R. von Wurstemberger, “Veber Derivate des Biphenylendiphenylmethans,” Chemische Berichte, vol. 37, 1904, pages 73-78.
Condensation of carbinol with phenol is disclosed in A. Kliegl, “Ueber die Condensation von Benzaldehyd mit Toluol,” Chemische Berichte, vol. 38, 1905, pages 84-87.